County approves 25-mile road plan
RUSSELLVILLE — The Franklin County Commission has approved a transportation plan for fiscal year 2027 that identifies 25.17 miles of roads for paving and surface work.
“It’s an ambitious list,” County Engineer Jason Baggett said. “The past few years, we’ve been doing about 12 to 13 miles.”
Baggett said the county will likely divide the work into two projects. He said a contractor would pave some roads with asphalt, while county crews would prepare, level and patch others before a contractor applies chip seal.
Costs will determine how much of the plan the county completes. Baggett said he used conservative unitprice estimates because contractors have submitted asphalt prices ranging from $85 to $110 per ton.
“We’ve had a list like this before where the bids came in so high we had to cut it down to like four roads,” Probate Judge Barry Moore said. “That was several years ago.”
The FY27 transportation plan includes:
• Highway 93 from Highway 34 to Highway 81;
• Highway 69 from the Marion County line to Alabama 237;
• Big Bear Lake Road from the dead end to Kelly Road;
• Highway 144 from Highway 244 to Highway 24;
• Highway 70 from Alabama 13 to Alabama 13;
• Whippoorwill Circle from Highway 60 to Highway 60;
• Highway 20 from U.S. 43 to Alabama 13;
• Highway 57 from Chigger Hill Road to Gravel Hill Road;
• Highway 33 from Highway 24 to Highway 49;
• Horseshoe Bend Road from the Bear Creek Development Authority entrance to Highway 16;
• Highway 9 from Old Vina Road to Highway 23; and
• Highway 3 from Highway 23 to Highway 11 South.
In other highway department business:
• Commissioners approved FY27 purchase orders to reserve production slots for new dump trucks the county could receive next spring.
Baggett said a $771,400 order is with Truck Works, and $207,140 order is with Ox Bodies.
Baggett said issuing the purchase orders places the county in the manufacturers’ schedules while commissioners complete the FY27 budget process. The county can cancel the orders if commissioners decide not to fund the purchases.
Moore said issuing the purchase orders will help prevent delivery delays if commissioners opt to approve the purchases. He said the county would declare its older dump trucks surplus before receiving replacements.
If the county receives funding in September, Baggett said the bidding schedule could delay paving until April 2027 because October would not offer an ideal time to begin the work.
